George Karl informs Carmelo Anthony he has been traded to Mars (Brian Bahr/ Getty).

The NBA trade deadline is only 10 days away, and that means we're now in a period of rampant hearsay and rumor-mongering. As various reports surface, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. With so many rumors flying, who knows which talks are real, how far along they are, and whether or not these deals are likely to go through?

It can be a tough time for coaches, too, particularly as they try to figure out which players will be at their disposal for the the stretch run. They need to let off some steam in any way they can. And that's why, years ago, longtime NBA head coach George Karl decided to make up a trade rumor to see if he could get it into the papers. From Jodie Valade for The Cleveland Plain-Dealer (via SLAM):

The Brooklyn Nets play defense (Getty Images)

The Brooklyn Nets have lost seven of the team’s last 13 games, a stark dip down from the 11-4 marks the team posted in both November and January. In a season that has had its fair share of low points – a .500 start after 28 games, a Christmas Day embarrassment at the hands of the Boston Celtics, the firing of Avery Johnson – the team seemingly hit a new low on Sunday with a nationally televised spanking at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.

The teams went into the half with Brooklyn flinging away and featuring a 57-51 lead. The Spurs then peeled off a 60-29 second half that had Nets fans (in their 28th-ever home game in Brooklyn, mind you) booing the team. Booing their team as they lost to a Spurs squad playing without future Hall of Famers Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. The New York Times’ Howard Beck detailed the carnage:

They have been turnover-prone, offensively inefficient and generally out of sorts, looking more like the team that got Avery Johnson fired in December than the one that came alive under Carlesimo in January.

“I think when things start to go bad, instead of fighting back, we kind of hang our heads and do the opposite,” Williams said. “It’s just a mentality that we have, we’ve developed, which is bad.”

Is he worried?

“Nah,” Williams said. “Not really.”

Hey, do you like "breakthrough innovation?" How about tight short-sleeved shirts? If you answered "yes" to both, then the Golden State Warriors and adidas have a treat for you. Show 'em, Harrison Barnes:

Harrison Barnes likes T-shirts. (Image via adidas)

That right there is a new jersey that adidas has developed and that the Warriors will wear on Friday, Feb. 22, when they take on the San Antonio Spurs in a nationally televised game on ESPN. It has sleeves, which is different.

The team and the NBA's official apparel provider have a joint announcement/unveiling press conference scheduled for Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern/2 p.m. Pacific that will be streamed on Golden State's official website, but Warriors beat man Marcus Thompson II of the San Jose Mercury News already has the scoop on the unis, which the Warriors will reportedly also wear during a March 8 contest against the Houston Rockets and one week later, on March 15, against the Chicago Bulls.

[More NBA: While Lakers soap opera thickens, Heat just keep winning]

Cory Brandt meets the man whose trade made him lose a layer. (Screencap via the Memphis Commercial Appeal)

Two Wednesdays ago, the Detroit Pistons took part in a three-team trade that sent small forward Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors, point guard Jose Calderon to the Motor City and a trio of players to the Memphis Grizzlies. One of the Memphis three was small forward Tayshaun Prince, who had spent his entire 11-year career with the Pistons, played a key role on Detroit teams that made six straight Eastern Conference finals from 2002 through 2008, and offered strong two-way play on squads that came up about 10 minutes shy of back-to-back NBA titles under Larry Brown.

For one fan who learned of the deal at that Wednesday's Pistons/Indiana Pacers game, as you'll surely recall, the news of Prince's trade was just too much to bear. By Thursday afternoon, the fan's jersey-shedding reaction to Prince's departure was all over Internet hoops sites (including this one) and TV highlight shows, and the fan had become something of a viral video star. Now, thanks to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, we know more about the fan, whose name is Cory Brandt ... and thanks to the newspaper, the Grizzlies and their new swingman, Brandt and his family got an experience they'll never forget.

Kobe Bryant during Sunday's loss to Miami (Getty Images)

When Kobe Bryant joined Twitter earlier this year, one of the more intriguing subplots about his time on the social media site was the way he would approach his interactions with fans, critics, or anyone that just bothered to put “@kobebryant” in a 140-character missive. Would he reply at all? Would Kobe reply endlessly to dozens of followers, only to delete the replies to clear his feed? Would he send dismissive direct messages back to the followers, knowing that they couldn’t DM back? Or would he pick and choose, smartly.

[Related: While Lakers soap opera thickens, Heat just keep winning]

So far, it appears as if Bryant is picking and choosing, smartly. The Lakers All-Star, who heads into Monday afternoon with nearly 1.3 million followers on the service, used the hours following his team’s hard-fought yet mistake-prone loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday to chide one fan.

After one follower shared the sentiments of many female (and male) Bryant followers by offering the suggestion that he and the Laker star “make out in bed,” another follower offered this lovely take:

(Courtesy Twitter.com/SomeGuyYouShouldn'tFollow)

At least he spelled “you’re” correctly.

Swiftly, Kobe came back with this:

Just letting you know@PacSmoove @pookeo9 that using "your gay" as a way to put someone down ain't ok! #notcool delete that out ur vocab

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) February 11, 2013

Brendan Haywood in December, as Zach Randolph poses with the NBA's Bob Lanier (Getty Images)

As a good chunk of the East coast digs itself from out of a snowstorm and most of the country braces for at least another month of cold conditions, monthly bills remain a frightening concern for thousands of American families. Especially if you’re a single mother, attempting to go to school, work, juggle responsibilities with children, and make the pretty significant jump from a homeless shelter to place of your own.

Charlotte Bobcats center Brendan Haywood, in one of the finer plays of the NBA’s year, has decided to help over a dozen local mothers working through the same concerns. On Sunday, as the mothers met at the Salvation Army to update each other and Salvation Army workers on their latest move, the parents watched in puzzlement as the Bobcats’ mascot Rufus and several banks of media cameras showed up out of nowhere. From the Charlotte Observer:

Rochelle Monroe watched as her children played with Rufus as she wondered what the gathering was really about.

“They said they were going to give us help,” she said. “I don’t know what they mean.”

Jeremy Lin high above the rim (Getty Images)

Jeremy Lin is the lead point guard for the Houston Rockets, a team that is first in the NBA with a blistering top mark in pace factor. He’s also in his first full season as an NBA starter, working in the last week before a much needed All-Star break, while still recovering from a ligament tear some 11 months ago. You’d be fine to question the young man’s legs, given that information and context.

And he’d be fine in proving you wrong. Lin managed one of the plays of the highlight-rich Houston Rockets’ season on Sunday night in Sacramento:

That would be Lin getting the block on Kings’ guard Aaron Brooks, and then going coast to coast for the huge throwdown on long-armed Kings wingman Francisco Garcia.

Lil Wayne (Getty Images)

MIAMI, Fla. – Welcome to today's episode of Heat Said, Weezy said.

During Sunday's Miami Heat win over the L.A. Lakers, rapper Lil Wayne tweeted that he was ejected from American Airlines Arena for cheering for the visiting team.

"So I'm @ da Heat game right, rootin 4 da Lakers kuz dats my team & would u believe they got police 2 make me leave?! Wow!" the rapper tweeted.

He then added an epithet: "[Expletive] da Heat."

[Related: While Lakers soap opera thickens, Heat just keep winning]

That caused quite a reaction on Twitter, as Lil Wayne has nearly 10 million followers. Yet he's not the only one out there with an account of what happened Sunday. A fan named Danny Vega, who said he was near the rapper, had a different version of the incident:

"Random guy yelled at Lil Wayne at #MiamiHEAT game, Weezy looked back, gave him a mean stare & gestured he had a gun," tweeted Vega, who said he was at the game and sitting near Lil Wayne. "Weezy just got into argument with security at the